Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) is a private non-profit national foundation dedicated to inspiring empowered financial decision making for individuals and families through every stage of life. NEFE is a forward-thinking trustworthy resource you can rely on for a wide variety of financial education material. They are most widely recognized for their excellent free high school modules.

The particular tool I am motivated to share is a research based tool in NEFE's Smart About Money program, the Life Values Quiz. Students respond to a series of questions and responses categorize their values to explain what motivates them; what makes them happy. This is of particular importance early in a personal finance course as educators should lay the groundwork for establishing a student centered culture that connects financial literacy tools and concepts to individual students goals and values.

- See more at:
http://www.smartaboutmoney.org/Tools-Resources/LifeValues-Quiz/what-are-the-four-lifevalues-.aspx#sthash.NLhCB6yi.dpuf

The National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) is the leading
private nonprofit 501(c)(3) national foundation dedicated to inspiring
empowered financial decision making for individuals and families through
every stage of life.
- See more at: http://www.nefe.org/#sthash.E2EUjHIX.dpuf

The
National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) is the leading
private nonprofit 501(c)(3) national foundation dedicated to inspiring
empowered financial decision making for individuals and families through
every stage of life.
- See more at: http://www.nefe.org/#sthash.E2EUjHIX.d

My friend Dan Kadlec pointed out in this recent piece
that "A growing body of research suggests that money reminders tweeted,
texted, emailed or otherwise delivered through social media fall on
receptive eyes." Kadlec also noted "A study led by Barbara O’Neill at
the Rutgers Co-operative Extension found that Twitter and Facebook
messages to adults raised awareness about money issues even if they
didn’t always lead to behavioral change."

AmericaSaves are believers as well. This month they heavily promoted their "Pledge to Save" text messaging service. So let's incorporate these techniques into our pedagogy.

1. Remind101
is a safe way for teachers to text message students and stay in touch
with parents, and it's free! For the past couple of weeks I have sent a
daily text message encouraging my students to set a savings goal, set
up a savings account, and regularly contribute to a savings account
(ideally through a direct deposit) to reach their goal.

2. Calendar reminders
in their phones should be incorporated whenever possible. As an
example, all of us should check our credit reports once a year for free
at annualcreditreport.com. Have the students set a yearly reminder to do
so beginning on their 18th birthdays. Another example is to set
reminders for key FAFSA tasks on important dates as you introduce the students to the student aid process.

3. Parent checklists
with resources for students and parents to explore together at home are
a great way to share leading edge resources like the CFPB's Paying For College.

4. Classroom Twitter
accounts can be used to send encouraging texts to save, links to
valuable resources, and financial tips that are relevant to students
now. If you would like a few ideas, here is my classroom Twitter account. We also have our own website and Pinterest page.

5. Student Twitter
and other social media accounts can be utilized as resources to connect
students with where to turn when they have questions after they
graduate. For example, when we were working through the consumer
protection unit, I encouraged students to follow the FTC, CFPB, and Ohio
Attorney General. This, of course, was after the students utilized the
resources on the government websites to deepen their understanding of
the content.

This resource can be tapped for content in class, almost as a virtual textbook. Although I envision the most useful way to use the resource is directly with parents. The information is trust worthy, straight forward, and written in plain English.

MyMoney.Govrecently improved their website. MyMoney.Gov is the U.S. government's website dedicated to teaching all Americans the basics about financial education. Throughout the site, you will find important information from more than 20 Federal agencies and Bureaus designed to help you make smart financial choices.

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), in collaboration with its partners, developed several educational programs and materials to help Canadians increase their financial and personal money management skills and knowledge.

FCAC materials and several other resources are available for free to educators and program facilitators. FCAC’s educational programs have been used across Canada in learning institutions, by community groups and within the workplace.

For my Canadian followers, please click here to learn more about the FCAC program.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is building an Office of Financial Education. In the process, CFPB has created two useful tools for educators and students that need to make their way into our classrooms.

Ask CFPB allows the user to find posts focused on specific financial education content topics written in plain English, with the consumers best interest at heart. It can be used by students for scavenger hunts, research projects, jigsaw presentations, or as an anchor activity resource. Ask CFPB can be used by educators as a professional development resource to stay on top of the evolving and sometimes complex financial world.

Paying for College is my favorite tool, an interactive infographic guiding the user through the student loan process from beginning to end with excellent advice and resources. This tool should be the go-to resource for financial educators focusing on a student debt lesson, and certainly a resource guidance counselors should use and share with parents.

About Me

My wife and I are raising our three children and dog in Kenwood, Ohio. I am a teacher and outreach director deeply passionate about financial education in our schools. I enjoy sharing financial literacy resources fellow educators can incorporate into their classrooms. I have become particularly interested in behavioral finance.